Breathe
by MissTiraMissSu
Summary: In this world, being alive is a gift. Appreciate every breath and every moment.


Why was he here? He could have been asleep, curled up in his own bed with clean sheets and an empty mind. Instead he laid on her bed, staring up at a dingy cobweb lined ceiling and listening to her breathe.

Slow, even breaths that faded into obscurity, lost in the chirp of summer's last crickets and the rustle of fall leaves. In the dark of her room that was broken by a sole candle, he laid in the bed he made beside the woman scribbling next to him to finish something that was due yesterday. He could have faulted her for that, but he knew Hanji well. In the sea of paperwork, her work on the titans always came first, pushing aside everything else that didn't have to due with the beasts. So when she found out that papers of importance were buried underneath the notes she made, she came to him with a plea and pout. Then a firm hand and dragging. He would keep her company until the work was done, lest she forget it all and put it off for another day. Forced to comply, he counted cobwebs and listened to her sighs, soft breaths that would taper off as she finished paperwork.

A gasp.

Hanji had fallen back into her reports, marking off spelling errors and random little notations that she had missed in her work-induced madness.

"Glasses."

A long, annoyed groan would be followed by more pen scratches and the breathing once again ebbing away into nothingness. A cat yowled outside. A dog barked. Her breathing picked up.

"Back to work."

"I got caught up again, Levi. You know how exciting this is!"

He scowled at her. She went back to official business while Levi went back to the ceiling above him. Tomorrow, while she was away, he would wipe away those cobwebs and leave this place spotless. A broom wouldn't be enough for the darkening dust. Dead bugs, long forgotten, lurked up their along with general debris. There would be a mop and maybe some disinfectant...

Frustrated whines interrupted his planning. Hanji's intense stare was on him while her lower lip stuck out and her hands clasped together.

"Levi, do this for me."

"No."

The cobwebs needed dusting. Her slight smile withered away and she returned to writing, a reluctant child with puffed up cheeks. Counting cobwebs in lieu of anything interesting that wouldn't pull her away. Motes of dust. The number of stripes on her shorts. The number of well tailored holes in her thin sleeveless shirt. How her eyes protested this late night boredom, flickering in hopes of keeping her alert. How many times her chest rose and fall, life giving breath that left her with occasional force to pull her attention away from daydreaming.

It was a simple action. Breathing. In and out, sucking in air and spitting it back out, damp and warm with the remnants of the life it had supported. It was often taken for granted. In her messy bed with sheets that were last changed in who knows when, he could appreciate it. In her, in this woman that distracted herself with the idea that titans were interesting playmates and possible friends. He was glad she was breathing this autumn air that carried with it the slightest bite of winter. Levi laid on his side, watching her chest rise and fall. The pen moved as long as his eye was upon her. The low scratching and tapping. The endless chirping of crickets. Her mindless humming.

Hanji's breath tickling and warming his chest. Hanji's hands pressing against his chest and her nails lightly digging into his skin as she squirmed against him to get comfortable. Levi groaned. Sleep clouded his eyes and mind as the darkness was being diluted by the rising sun. When he had fallen asleep was beyond him, but it was shallow and refreshing. Levi yawned as his eyes adjusted. The grey light of early morning assured him of two things. First, the cobwebs. The second, Hanji Zoe.

She dragged herself closer before tightening her grip on his shirt with no intention to let him go. Levi sighed. At least this was no dream. Hanji had folded herself up against him at some point in the night with that idiotic smile, knowing that he would be annoyed with her the moment he woke up. But he could sleep a bit longer, until the sun bleached the sky while her soft breaths reminded him of the wonder of being alive.


End file.
